Celtic Finally Get The Transfer Ball Rolling And This Guy Isn’t A Project Player.

So today might be the day. Or at least over the weekend. What appears on the cards is that Celtic will complete the first signing of this window soon, bringing in Nicholas Kuhn from Rapid Vienna.

He plays wide. He can play across the front.

He is 24 and we’ll be paying £3 million for him.

This guy has been at Ajax and Bayern Munich.

This is not, by any stretch, a “project player”. We may be about to see the first proper Brendan Rodgers signing here, and that’s all to the good.

Frankly, it is about time. And that we’re willing to pay a decent fee for him strongly suggests that the manager has won the backing he wanted. Or maybe that’s just me indulging in high hopes and wishful thinking; we’ll soon find out. But the fact is, the last few months have shown us that we need players in the wide positions.

Right now, we have three on the left and three on the right. But that’s deceptive. Because on the left it’s Maeda and Palma, with Mikey Johnston as backup. On the right it’s Abada, Forrest and Yang. We are all agreed, I think, that we’ve just about seen the last of Johnston and Forrest is now past 33 and Yang blows hot and cold.

So, the strength in depth isn’t really there as much as it seems.

On top of that are tactical considerations; Palma lacks the pace you’d want with a winger and he might get shifted to the creative midfield position behind the striker … the more players of the right quality you have available, the better the overall picture looks.

It’s been a while since someone came in and obviously elevated the team. This boy has the right pedigree for that, and Rodgers will be aware of his skill-set and he’ll know where he wants to play him. We might be in for a few surprises here, including the possibility of playing Maeda and Kyogo up front at some point in the future.

But more than anything else, this is the start of the new Celtic, with Rodgers now in the driving seat. This boy is a little too experienced to be a “development” player and that convinces me that the boss has finally seized control of his own destiny instead of leaving it in the hands of people who aren’t really qualified to do that job.

Brendan has had time to go over the team and to assess its needs. He knows now what is required and where he wants us to get stronger. I am encouraged by the stories today about the three positions he wants to strengthen, and I’ll talk about the other two shortly … and what it means for another player at the club.

At long last though, the movement is looking like its coming in the right direction.

If we can get this deal done quickly it will give the whole club a lift, and whilst it’s not over until the proverbial fat lady sings this one feels real, and it feels like it’s going to happen.